1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an observation method and equipment that use an ultrasonic reflected wave within a liquid or a solid.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ultrasonic observation technique is used for inspection of a structure or the like in water and non-destructive inspection of the inside of a solid (steel material or the like). It is one of techniques for transmitting an ultrasonic wave to an object to be observed and visualizing a change in a physical amount of the object based on a wave reflected from the object to be observed.
For example, inspecting objects to be observed in water (such as a river and an ocean) involves attachment of observation equipment for inspection to a ship or a remotely-operated vehicle. In non-destructive testing, an operator may physically hold the observation equipment or attach it to an automated scanner to perform the inspection.
In both cases above, means, which could be an operator or an automated device such as a remotely-operated vehicle or an automated scanner, for transporting the observation equipment to an object to be observed is required. If the object to be observed is small but the volume of the observation equipment is large, an observation operation may be limited.
That case then needs the observation equipment to be downsized. As one of downsized equipment an ultrasonic inspection device, which is downsized as much as possible and is high-sensitive, is known (refer to, for example, JP-2005-127870-A).